(Satyagraha logo courtesy ahopefortoday.com)
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi whom the Indians consider as the father of the nation, gave leadership to Indians at the time of their struggle against the British to wrest the country from the shackles of colonial Rule through non-violent movement. He not only preached but also practiced non-violence which made the people of India to call him Mahatma Gandhi. ‘Mahatma’ means a great soul. He was venerated by people as a man of spiritual high mindedness. Being a peace loving person he did not advocate use of force to fight the British.
In fact Gandhi’s philosophy of non- violence was peace through absence of violence. He wanted his opponents to be won through love. His method was to change the hearts of his opponents through soul force. It was a kind of appealing to the heart and soul of his opponent. He said that ever lasting peace can be won only through love. As Gandhi said that truth was his god and it implies love. He said in South Africa in the year 1928 :
“Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase “passive resistanceâ€, in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word “satyagraha†itself or some other equivalent English phrase”.
Since it is not merely non-violence or ahimsa but something more than that, that is, using non violence as a means of struggle or ‘agraha’. It is a Sanskrit word and it means ‘pursuit’ or ‘go after’ and hence he called his method as satyagraha. Force born out of truth. It is the active and often physical, employment of a powerful spiritual and moral weapon. The quest of truth involves self-suffering, sometimes even unto death. The individual employing satyagraha is armed not with physical power but with moral power to eradicate the evil or reform the opponent. It is employment of a powerful spiritual and moral weapon which is more effective than a nuclear weapon.
Why speak about satyagraha now. The reason is that the weapon which Mahatma Gandhi had conceived to apply to political matters when there was no elected government of the people for the people and by the people is now being used for everything which one considers as “injusticeâ€. This is a powerful weapon because the person offering satyagraha threatens that if his demands are not met, he would die or give his life for the cause for which he is on satyagraha.
The question therefore arises is whether the satyagraha should be allowed to be used as a means to achieve any goal. The person who offers satyagraha if he has a large following and the cause which he advocates is a popular cause, may be impractical to implement by using a magic wand, he can hold any government to ransom. Satyagraha cannot be stopped by any government as it is only a peaceful protest. So long it does not create law and order problem, the government cannot take any action against him or her. This is part of democratic method to redress ones grievance. If the person who offers satyagraha who has wide spread support and the Government finds impossible to come up with an instant solution, the same may lead to consequences which cannot be envisaged.
Similar situation is now being created in India where corruption allegations are the order of the day and the people who want to stem this menace have now taken the satyagraha mode to take action against these corrupt people or system. Perhaps some of the demands if seen one has only to sympathise with the Government in power. The demands are such that instant solution like instant coffee can not be found out. Therefore it is a catch 22 position for the Government and at the same time one cannot brush aside the demand of persons who want to resort to satyagraha. Whether such satyagraha will take the shape of levying blackmail against the Government when one sees opposition parties jumping into the band wagon to get a small slice of the publicity and to achieve their agenda.
The situation in India therefore is precarious as the satyagraha is launched by people who are not in power but have mass base. They are not elected and are not conversant with the natty gritty of politics or economics etc. They may be ambitious people or may be people who have long term plans to take the mantle of head of the state. This is so because the demands made cannot be solved in a couple of days in spite of best of intentions. Only time will tell whether satyagraha should be the means to redress the grievances or it should be done through their representatives who are in the parliament or they should contest elections and get the endorsement of the people . These questions are relevant because there is a democratically elected government at place in terms of the constitution which has to answer the nation. Let us wait and watch whether Satyagraha is the right mode for solving the social and political ills of this country. Whether the people should ignore the parliament and redress their grievances in Ram Lila Maidan ( an open place in Delhi) of Delhi. Whether Mahatma Gandhi would have agreed to this mode of agitation if he was alive. Sadly Mahatma Gandhi is not amidst us to enlighten us. .
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